Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe

There are few things about fall that I don’t love. However, there are a select few things about fall that make it the absolute best time of year in my opinion. In this particular case, I’m talking about pumpkin season.

I absolutely love everything pumpkin. I love the yummy desserts, I love watching them grow on the vine, I love carving them for Halloween and I love all the different varieties and colors.

I think the reason I love pumpkin treats so much is all the delicious spices that come along with it: Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg…mmm my senses are tingling just thinking about them!

This morning as I was getting ready to come to work, I was wondering what I was going to have for breakfast. I usually like to eat a bowl of cereal, but since I was running late, I knew I didn’t have the time. One of my favorite quickie breakfasts is a banana smoothie, but alas: No bananas today.

So, I started thinking about what I had in the pantry. I immediately remembered the canned pumpkin and thought, well shoot! It’s pretty much fall already, and Sonic is already selling their pumpkin shakes, so why not have a pumpkin smoothie?

Omigosh, you guys. If I could take my favorite foods out on dates and try to impress them, I would take this pumpkin smoothie out to a 5 star restaurant and let it order whatever it wanted no matter the cost. It was SO GOOD! It kind of tasted like a frozen pumpkin pie. It’s no wonder, really, because the ingredients are pretty similar to pumpkin pie, sans crust of course.

If you are a die-hard pumpkin fan like me but you still want a little summer heat relief, I encourage you to try this pumpkin pie smoothie recipe. Feel free to make adjustments as your taste buds desire.

Pumpkin Smoothie

½ c. canned pumpkin

¼ c. vanilla cinnamon creamer (available in the dairy section with the coffee creamers)

1 c. ice

¼ - ½ c. milk (add less for a thicker consistency)

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Blend all ingredients in a blender (I like to use the personal size blender for convenience) and enjoy! For extra fluff and awesomeness, you can add some whipped topping to the top. Delicious!

Fabric Wire Flowers

A few months ago, when I wanted to attempt making some wire flowers, I ordered some thin wire online. I received my order in April, but finally found the time and energy to work on them this weekend. I'll share a few pictures (the best part of blogs, IMHO) then scroll to the bottom for the "how to" instructions.

By the way, if you love these vintage books, you can purchase your own set of three at this adorable shop for only $15! 



First attempt. A little sloppy, but still so cute!



Fun zebra print. I was getting better by this point.



Here's a side view of this little pretty.

 

Oh. My. Gosh. I made some "mini me's" using the same
technique and absolutely fell in love. I'm thinking of
using them for hair clips, headbands or just making a bunch
of them into a bouquet.

 

Yep. I definitely love these. I want to put them on my nightstand so they're
the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning. Except my darling husband,
of course.



Here are all the fabric wire flowers I made. I can't wait to
makre more!



 

 Ok, now for the directions!

 

You'll need:

• fabric scraps (the super nice thing about these is they make excellent use of your scrap fabric)
• white cloth covered floral stem wires, 26 Gauge (I bought mine from this site in bulk - they are pretty inexpensive)
• floral pins
• floral tape
• tacky glue or elmers glue

After making my first flower, I decided the wire was much too long. You can use the entire 18" and have a longer stem, or you can do what I did and cut the wire in half first (which also gives you twice the flowers!).

1. Wrap the wire around something circular that will form the shape of your petal. I used a jumbo size permanent marker for the large flowers I did and a regular marker for the smaller flowers. Twist the short end around the stem enough to secure the loop (about 3 or 4 twists should do it). 
2. Grab a pencil and pull the end of the petal enough to give it an oblong shape. 
3. Squeeze a quarter-size amount of glue onto a scrap of paper and apply a thin coat of the glue on one side of the petal with a paintbrush. Bend the stem so it stands at a 90 degree angle from the petal and place firmly onto your scrap fabric, right side up. I used the other end of the paintbrush to roll over the wire to ensure a firm, flat bond on the fabric. Repeat steps 1-3 a total of 5 times. 
4. Once the glue is dry, cut closely around the wire. Bend the stem 180 degrees and shape the petal using a marker or something else round that gives you the amount of bend you want on your petals. You can use your fingers for this if you want, but it will be more uniform and "nice looking" if you use something as a template. 
5. When you have all 5 petals, take the first two and start wrapping the floral tape around them. Add another petal after each pass until you have all 5 petals together, then move down the stem with the tape until you reach the bottom. Tear or cut the tape and secure firmly. 
6. Insert the floral pin into the center of the flower and voila! Variation: You can add the floral pin when you start wrapping the first two petals instead of inserting at the end. This method works well if you are having trouble getting the pin to sit in the center without poking out of the stem.

 

 



Nursery Blocks

I have so many ideas going on right now, but I just don't seem to have the time for any of them. Since we are preparing for not one, but two babies in the coming months, that has been occupying most of my time and attention.

I've started working on their baby quilts. I don't have much experience with detailed quilts. The one's I have done are just block quilts, so these require much more time and precision. I'll post pictures of the finished products once they're done - though I have feeling it's going to be a while. The two of them may have to share one until I have the time to finish the other.

I ran out of thread after 6 blocks, so I started looking around the craft room wondering what else I should work on. I found some small canvas blocks and decided to make something out of them.

It's hard to think of anything non-baby related, so the first thing that came to mind was the word "baby". I have never really learned to paint, or know any special painting techniques. But, I took some inspiration from Joshua Radin (my background tunes) and made these little pretties:

How cute are these? I love, love love them! I know the flower throws you off a bit, as these are obviously meant for a boys room. But I don't care. I love them!